The Hobbit Summary

Perhaps exactly how The Hobbit: Or, There and Back Again came to be written will never be settled. J. R. R. Tolkien himself said that inspiration for the beginning of the story came to him one day when, in the midst of grading examinations, he found that a student had turned in a blank sheet of paper. On that sheet, Tolkien wrote, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” He said that names always suggested stories to him, and that he immediately wanted to find out what hobbits were. Tolkien’s children also recall hearing parts of the story told to them at bedtime; some version of The Hobbit, perhaps incomplete, was probably in existence before 1932, when it was seen by C. S. Lewis, then a fellow professor with Tolkien at Oxford.

Whatever the immediate spark, the story that resulted was a fresh version of an age-old plot, the quest. At the very start of the story, the reader learns what hobbits are: a smaller, shyer, home-loving race related to humans; a race living in a far-distant mythical past on a world both like and unlike Earth. The central character, the young hobbit Bilbo Baggins, seems typical of his people at the beginning, content to live a quiet and unexciting life in his cozy dwelling. From the beginning, however, the story sounds a note of mystery: Gandalf, a wizard whose powers are only hinted at, has seen in Bilbo a taste for adventure and a capacity for heroism.

Gandalf knows that the dwarf Thorin Oakenshield plans a return to the Lonely Mountain, the former home of his people. Long ago, the dwarves (Tolkien’s famous spelling of the plural form) had been driven from the mountain by a dragon who has converted it into a secure lair. What the dwarves need is a burglar, someone who can penetrate the lair and scout its defenses, and Gandalf (without informing Bilbo) tells Thorin that Bilbo is just the hobbit for the job. Thus, at the beginning of the story, Thorin and his band of followers show up at Bilbo’s hole and sweep him away on the quest.

Although Bilbo shows some initial reluctance, Gandalf had judged him rightly. Bilbo sets out with the dwarves and steps into a larger world. As the band travels to the Lonely Mountain, they encounter situations that increase in danger. They are threatened by trolls and captured by goblins. During the latter episode, Bilbo gains a crucial possession and meets an important character. While lost in the goblin caverns, Bilbo finds a ring and not long afterward encounters its owner. This character is Gollum, a loathsome, solitary figure, dwelling in darkness and ruled by his greed for a magical ring. Not knowing that he has lost the ring, Gollum regards Bilbo as an intruder and is ready to kill him when Bilbo challenges him to a game of riddles. With the ring in his possession, Bilbo is more than a match for Gollum and, in an act that will later be important, spares Gollum’s life and escapes from the caverns. The adventures continue, but now Bilbo is growing to fit his role. Thorin’s band is seized by giant spiders and imprisoned by elves, a race long suspicious of dwarves, but the dwarves are delivered from each of these dangers by Bilbo’s imagination and daring (qualities he himself had not suspected he possessed). Eventually, they reach their destination.

Once again, Bilbo proves equal to the task, and by now he is rather enjoying being a burglar. He single-handedly enters the mountain lair, manages to confuse the dragon, and escapes with a piece of treasure from the hoard, an act that leads directly to the climax of the story. Discovering the theft, the dragon suspects someone from Dale, a nearby town inhabited by humans, and he flies out to punish the thief. During the devastation that follows, Bard, a hero from the town, kills the dragon with an arrow. In the meantime, Thorin, Bilbo, and the band of dwarves reenter the mountain caves, and Thorin prepares to establish the seat of his kingdom there. As the climax approaches, forces are gathering to contest Thorin’s claim to the dragon’s treasure: The humans of Dale, the wood-elves from the forest of Mirkwood, and a reinforcing army of dwarves kindred to Thorin dispute who has a right to the treasure. This quarrel is postponed by the arrival of a force of wolves and goblins, and a general melee follows, one which Bilbo sees as the futile result of greed and in which he takes no direct part. Although the wolves and goblins are defeated, the victory costs Thorin his life. Before he dies, though, Thorin realizes that his greed has killed him and that the treasure is large enough to share. After the dwarves, elves, and humans have come to a friendly settlement, Bilbo returns home with the memories of his trip and with the ring.

Comfortably settled in his family home, Bag End, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins loves eating good food, blowing smoke rings, and living a quiet, peaceful life. The last thing he expects is an adventure, but that is exactly what the wizard Gandalf has in store for him. Gandalf appears on Bilbo’s doorstep one day, and the flustered hobbit finds himself caught up in an increasingly alarming conversation in which the wizard begins to talk of sending Bilbo on an adventure. Thoroughly discomfited, the hobbit ends the conversation and scurries back into his hole but only after inadvertently inviting the wizard to tea the next day.

When Gandalf returns, with him come thirteen dwarves, including the mighty Thorin Oakenshield. The dwarves are starting a quest to recover their ancient stronghold far to the east, where Thorin’s grandfather was King under the Mountain. Great treasure awaits them—and Bilbo, too, whom they expect to hire, on Gandalf’s recommendation, as the group’s burglar. The dwarves need all the help they can get, because sitting on the gold that awaits them at the Lonely Mountain is the dreaded dragon Smaug, who drove their forefathers away years ago.

Bilbo reluctantly joins the group, and—after meeting the hobbit—they reluctantly accept him. As uncertain as he is about the whole adventure, the dwarves are equally dubious about the hobbit’s qualifications for the expedition. Bilbo’s first burglary attempt—picking a troll’s pocket—very nearly gets the whole band of them roasted for dinner, but they are saved by Gandalf, who keeps the three trolls arguing until they are turned to stone by the sunrise.

The group shelters briefly with Elrond the elf lord, who discovers hidden moon-letters on Thorin’s map that reveal the secret way into the Lonely Mountain. Elrond also identifies the elven swords that Thorin and Gandalf took from the trolls’ hoard. The swords glow whenever goblins are nearby. Bilbo later discovers that the elven knife he procured from the troll cave (which is large enough to be a short sword for the small hobbit) has the same power.

After leaving Elrond, the group begins the perilous crossing of the Misty Mountains. Having sought shelter in a cave, they are attacked by goblins. In the ensuing chaos, Bilbo gets separated from the dwarves and wanders lost through subterranean passages where he finds a small ring that he puts in his pocket. He encounters the strange creeping creature Gollum, and they agree to a game of riddles. If Bilbo wins, Gollum will show him the way out of the caves. If Gollum wins, he gets to eat Bilbo.

The game proceeds, each asking a riddle and the other answering, until Bilbo, unnerved by the menacing Gollum, cannot think of a riddle and instead asks the creature what he (Bilbo) has in his pocket. The answer is the ring, but Gollum guesses wrong, so Bilbo insists on being shown the way out. Gollum intends to kill the hobbit anyway, but Bilbo discovers that by putting the ring on, he becomes invisible. He tricks Gollum into leading him to the exit, where Gollum realizes too late that the hobbit has taken his ring and, unable to follow Bilbo into the outside world, curses him forever.

Bilbo finds the dwarves and Gandalf, who killed the Great Goblin and many others when he helped the group escape. They admire the hobbit’s daring getaway, although he does not yet tell them about the ring. The travelers have emerged on the other side of the Misty Mountains, but they still have a long journey ahead. Unfortunately, they soon become trapped by a host of evil wolves who have joined forces with the goblins to raid nearby villages. Though the dwarves, Gandalf, and Bilbo manage to climb to safety in trees, the goblins begin setting fire to the trees. Eagles arrive just in time to save the travelers, flying them to safety.

The party is next aided by Beorn, a shape-shifter who can take the form of a bear and who is a friend to all animals. He provides lodging and guidance for the next part of the journey, which will take the group into the mysterious forest of Mirkwood, where the Elvenking reigns. Gandalf leaves them to check on dark business far away, and the dwarves’ misfortunes escalate. They become lost in the forest and are captured by giant spiders. With the help of his magic ring, Bilbo rescues his friends, but soon afterward the dwarves are taken prisoner by the wood elves. The Elvenking demands to know the reason for the company’s passing through the forest. Anxious to protect his inheritance, Thorin refuses to talk. Bilbo again manages a rescue that involves packing the dwarves into barrels that are sent down the river by the unsuspecting elves.

The barrels are opened in Lake-town, where the dwarves are celebrated and given supplies. They reembark and at last reach the Lonely Mountain, where they find the secret door described on their map. As the company’s burglar, Bilbo makes a hazardous exploratory journey into the mountain, where he discovers the golden hoard presided over by the dragon Smaug. He steals a cup to prove his proficiency as a burglar and escapes, but the dragon soon awakes and notices the missing cup. Furious, Smaug flies out of the mountain and smashes the secret door, trapping the company inside. Bilbo finds the Arkenstone of Thrain, a marvelous jewel long coveted by Thorin, but Bilbo keeps it secret for the time being.

After a conversation with the invisible hobbit, Smaug decides the lake men must have aided the dwarves and flies off to destroy them. Bilbo, however, has managed to observe a weak spot in the dragon’s otherwise impenetrable armor during their interchange. As a result, a friendly thrush tells Bard the bowman where to aim his arrow, and the hero of Lake-town slays the dragon—but not before much of the town has been wrecked and many of its people killed or wounded. They vow to gain recompense for their losses from the dwarves and march toward the mountain. Thorin denies their claim and sends for his cousin Dain to come to his aid.

Hearing of the dragon’s destruction, the elves, too, are marching toward the mountain and decide to assist Bard and his people. Bilbo gives the Arkenstone to Bard, hoping he will be able to use it as a bargaining chip to avert armed conflict between the dwarves and the Lake men. Bard and the Elvenking present the Arkenstone—described as being worth “a river of gold” in itself—to negotiate for a share of the treasure. Upon learning that Bilbo gave away the jewel, an enraged Thorin drives the hobbit from the mountain.

Meanwhile, the goblins and wolves are also massing to avenge the death of the Great Goblin. Though the dwarves, including the newly arrived Dain and his army, are at odds with the men and elves, the three groups join forces against the goblins and wolves in the Battle of the Five Armies. Even combined, the forces of good are outnumbered, but, just when all seems lost, the eagles and Beorn appear. With their aid, the men, elves, and dwarves defeat the evil creatures.

Thorin has been mortally wounded in the battle. On his deathbed, he forgives Bilbo for taking the Arkenstone. Dain becomes King under the Mountain, and Bard rebuilds Dale, the home of his fathers that was abandoned when the dragon came. His adventure over, Bilbo returns to Bag End only to find that he has been declared dead as a result of his long absence. Indeed, his home and possessions are in the midst of being auctioned off when he returns. After his disappearance is cleared up and his possessions are restored, he becomes labeled as an eccentric, but he always retains the friendship of Gandalf, dwarves, and elves, and he tells no one of his magic ring.

Tolkien’s The Hobbit, a story that has appealed to adults as well as children, provides the background to his larger work, The Lord of the Rings. All of these works find their place in the even larger series of stories on which Tolkien had been working from the 1920’s, and which were published posthumously by his son Christopher. Tolkien peopled his stories of Middle-earth with a number of traditional fictional races, including elves, dwarfs, and trolls, as well as “orcs,” goblins created by sorcery. The hobbit of the title is Bilbo Baggins, representative of a quiet, unadventurous race living in the Shire, in the west of Middle-earth. Gandalf the magician lures Bilbo, who is more adventurous than he himself thinks, into joining a group of dwarfs. They are determined to return to their home, the Lonely Mountain, kill the dragon Smaug, and recover their lost treasure and homeland.

After a number of initial adventures in which Bilbo shows his resourcefulness, they are trapped in a cave by a storm in the Misty Mountains. Caught by orcs and goblins, only Gandalf’s magic saves them. During their escape, Bilbo is separated from the group, knocked unconscious, and meets Gollum, a strange cave dweller. This juncture is the turning point of the story; without the help of others, Bilbo must defeat an opponent who will literally eat him if he loses. Providentially, Bilbo has found a ring that Gollum has lost, and after a riddle contest, which Bilbo wins, the hobbit can use the ring’s powers of invisibility to make his escape. Eventually, Bilbo makes his way out and rejoins his companions; they continue to travel eastward. The ring proves its usefulness repeatedly on the way, as the supposedly experienced and mature dwarfs blunder into every danger they meet.

Although Tolkien plays with the elements of many serious traditional tales—magic rings, invisibility, and threatening opponents, including spiders—he creates an adventure that is generally cheerful and humorous. The ring eventually makes the protagonists’ success possible, but its use often occasions comedy. With it, Bilbo, though awestruck by events, can act decisively and courageously when necessary. One element appealing to most readers is this picture of Bilbo, neglected, disregarded, literally small, and symbolically unimaginative, triumphing over hostile elves, humans, dragons, and cranky dwarfs.

His integrity and honesty also lead to his role in mediating a serious crisis between the dwarfs and their human neighbors. In the climactic scenes in the novel, Bilbo must demonstrate a maturity unseen earlier. Smaug has left the mountain, seeking revenge for Bilbo’s theft of a cup. The dragon attacks and destroys a human city, Lake-Town, and is killed. When the humans who remain seek some share in the wealth—they, after all, killed the dragon—the dwarfs’ greed gets the better of them. They blockade the mountain against their former friends. It is left to Bilbo to find a means of mediating peace. Unknown to the dwarfs, he has found and kept a jewel, the Arkenstone, which they have sought. Bilbo’s gift of it to Gandalf and the leaders of Lake-Town forces the dwarfs to concede. This development results in a union of the allies against a powerful force of wolves and orcs. Though he is not a typical warrior, Bilbo plays his role as discoverer and mediator very pragmatically, getting done what needs doing. At the novel’s end, Bilbo, now wealthy, but, more significant, imaginative and self-confident, returns to the Shire.

The Hobbit has many of the elements of a children’s story, as befits its origin: a narrative persona sounding much like an adult telling a story to children, some humorous comments along the way suggesting the follies of the dwarfs, and a proper seriousness about evil. The figure of Bilbo, invisible with his ring, lurking about various castles and wastelands, and eventually in Smaug’s cave, is the mischief of the sort that children enjoy. At least one element of the children’s story that is retained in The Lord of the Rings—though most others are not—is the sense of a providential order that leads to the rescue of the companions. Twice in the novel, Gandalf and the dwarfs are in difficult straits and are rescued by giant eagles who are indebted to Gandalf. At one point, Gandalf returns opportunely to delay three trolls long enough for them to be transformed into stone by the sunrise. Elsewhere, the ring itself seems a tool provided by providence to accomplish the necessary task. Until the story’s end, none of the dwarfs, Bilbo, or Gandalf is even injured. Only the final battle insists that this is a more dangerous world than Bilbo has seen before.

Bilbo Baggins lives in a dry, comfortable hole in the ground. Bilbo is a hobbit, a little person about half the height of an ordinary man. Hobbits have fat bellies and shoeless, hairy feet. They like food, comfort, and simple lives. Among the hobbits, Bilbo’s family is highly respected for being predictable and never having adventures—but that is about to change.

One day Bilbo is out in the sunshine smoking a pipe when Gandalf the wizard stops to talk with him. Gandalf explains that he wants to find a companion for an adventure, and Bilbo scoffs, saying that nobody in his neighborhood would agree to go along. Gandalf tells Bilbo that an adventure would be good for him. This scares Bilbo so much that he puts out his...

In the morning, Bilbo awakens to find his house empty and his kitchen a mess. The twelve dwarves and the wizard have helped themselves to food and then left without washing up. Bilbo is mostly relieved—but also slightly disappointed—to realize that the group has set off without him. He eats breakfast, cleans up, and is sitting down to a second breakfast when Gandalf arrives and demands to know why Bilbo is not on his way to meet the dwarves. Thorin had left Bilbo a note inviting him on their adventure and offering a fourteenth share of the treasure for his services as a burglar, but Bilbo had not found it. Gandalf shoves the poor hobbit out the door so quickly that he does not even have a chance to grab a hat or a pocket...

Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves travel onward for many more days. Bilbo is not enjoying the trip, as he did at the beginning. He often finds himself missing his hobbit hole. When he sees a mountain in the distance, he asks whether it is their destination. Balin scoffs and says it is only the first of the Misty Mountains. The little group has to cross the Wilds, climb over or under the Misty Mountains, and then journey through more Wilds beyond that before coming to the Lonely Mountain where Smaug the dragon lives. When Bilbo understands how far they still have to go, he feels worn out and sad.

One day Gandalf says they will soon stop and rest for a while. He has sent a message to Elrond of Rivendell, an elf-friend who...

Bilbo and the dwarves think they might reach the Lonely Mountain before the very next Durin’s Day, but Gandalf is not so optimistic. He knows that the journey will be dangerous and slow. As the little group climbs into the Misty Mountains, Bilbo once again finds himself pining after his hobbit hole. He thinks about the hobbits of his neighborhood and the happy time they must be spending, blackberry picking and harvesting, while he is traveling farther and farther from home in the cheerless mountains. The dwarves are equally gloomy.

When a thunderstorm begins, everyone’s mood grows gloomier still. Stone giants come out and hurl rocks at one another in the hills. Everyone is terrified that they will get caught in this...

Bilbo wakes up in such darkness that he cannot tell by looking whether his eyes are open or shut. He knows he is in a goblin cave, but he does not remember how he came to be knocked out or why he has been left behind. He crawls through the dark and puts his hand on something small and round—a ring. He puts it in his pocket. Then he sits down and smokes his pipe and looks at his blade, which he sees is glowing faintly blue. This, he knows by now, means that it is an elvish blade, and it gives him a little hope. He determines that there is nothing to do but go on.

Slowly, Bilbo makes his way down a path through the darkness. After a long walk, he comes to a dark underground lake, where he meets a small, slimy creature...

Bilbo walks away from the mountain and into the wild. He soon realizes that his journey has taken him to the other side of the mountain, but he has no idea where his friends are. He wanders for a while, trying to decide whether to go back and try to find them. Just when he has decided it is his duty to try to rescue the others from the goblins, he hears voices. He puts on the ring to make himself invisible while he investigates.

To Bilbo’s delight, the voices belong to his fellow travelers. He creeps among them and listens to Gandalf arguing with the dwarves. Gandalf says that they must go back to rescue Bilbo. The dwarves disagree; they complain that the little hobbit is useless and that it was silly of him to get...

The next morning, the eagles fly the travelers far to the east and deposit them on a large, standing rock that Gandalf calls the Carrock. Gandalf says he will take them to see somebody who lives in the area. Bilbo and the dwarves ask for information about this mysterious person, and Gandalf reluctantly explains. Beorn, he tells them, is a shape-shifter who sometimes appears as a man and sometimes as a bear. He is a cranky fellow who likes to be left alone. Gandalf takes Bilbo to Beorn’s house, and he leaves the others with instructions to follow, two at a time, at five-minute intervals.

Beorn does not normally allow strangers into his home. However, he knows Gandalf’s cousin, and Bilbo is such an nonthreatening...

Bilbo and the dwarves walk through Mirkwood, which is such a thick forest that after a day or so they do not see any sunlight hitting the ground. The nights are so dark that it is impossible to make out any shapes at all. Bilbo thinks the forest is worse than the goblin tunnels. Even the dwarves, who are used to tunneling, dislike the oppressive feel of this forest.

The travelers know they should not leave the path or drink the water from Mirkwood’s one stream, so they have to eat and drink only what they can carry. They try to shoot some of the animals they see, but they only manage to bring down a single black squirrel, which tastes terrible.

Bilbo and dwarves are hopelessly lost, so they simply pick a direction and walk. Shortly after they set out, the wood-elves capture them. The dwarves are so hungry and sick after the spider attack that they are actually relieved. They lay down their weapons and allow themselves to be marched to the Elvenking’s castle. Only Bilbo is not captured. He puts on his ring and follows at a distance.

The Elvenking questions the dwarves closely, but they refuse to tell him why they have come to his forest or where they are going. Frustrated, the king has them all locked up in separate cells. For many long days they stay there, with plenty to eat but no way out. Bilbo, meanwhile, wanders invisibly through the castle in despair....

On the way to the Long Lake, Bilbo eavesdrops on the raft elves’ talk and learns that floods and earthquakes have made the land around the Lonely Mountain extremely treacherous. The paths that lead out of Mirkwood are overrun by swamp, leaving the river—the very path Bilbo and the dwarves are traveling—as the only safe route. This information does little to cheer Bilbo, who is wet, cold, and uncomfortable. Besides that, the sight of the Lonely Mountain fills him with dread.

In the wasteland around the Lonely Mountain, one human community has survived: Lake-town. It is built on platforms on the Long Lake. Leaving the barrels at the entrance to the village, the raft elves go up to meet the town’s Master for a...

Accompanied by a few men from Lake-town, Bilbo and his friends ride in boats to the lake’s far shore. There, in the wastelands surrounding the Lonely Mountain, the lake men help them unload before returning home; they will not stay this close to the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo and the dwarves will face Smaug alone. Seeing the wreckage of the land that used to be their home, the dwarves grow gloomy. Only Bilbo remains somewhat hopeful.

Bilbo and a small group of dwarves take a peek at the mountain’s front entrance. It looks burned and wasted, and a foul smoke drifts out. It is far too dangerous to enter the main gate. The little group rejoins the others and helps to look for the secret side gate. It takes a great deal of...

When the door is open, Thorin launches into a speech about Bilbo’s bravery and value to the group. He says that now is the time for Bilbo to earn his share of the treasure. Crossly, Bilbo interrupts and says that he is well aware that Thorin wants him to go inside and try to steal from the dragon, although he feels he is already entitled to his share because of the many times he has saved the dwarves. He says he will go down and investigate and asks who wants to join him. The dwarves go quiet, except for Balin, who offers to take a few steps inside the door. This is just the way dwarves are. They always expect others to take risks for their benefit—but they also do their best to help their friends out of trouble. Dwarves are...

Bilbo and his friends wait fearfully inside the mountain for a long, dark while; it feels like they have been there for days. Finally Thorin suggests trying to open the gate even if the dragon is on the other side. The dwarves try, but that entire part of the mountain has been crushed; no one will ever enter or exit by that way again. Everyone falls into despair except Bilbo, who points out that he has been down the tunnel to the dragon’s lair twice without getting caught. He suggests going again—this time all together.

The dwarves agree, and they all walk as quietly as possible down the passageway. When they reach the treasure, Smaug is not there. The dwarves send Bilbo out to investigate, but he finds no dragon...

On the same night Smaug blocks the side entrance to the Lonely Mountain, he flies out to Lake-town. Some of the men in the town are out walking, and they notice strange lights coming from the Lonely Mountain in the distance. One of them says that it must be Thorin, back at work mining gold. Another, a grimmer fellow, says that it is probably Smaug out marauding. The others tell him to think about something more cheerful for a change. They then see a golden glow near the head of the lake, far away, and some say that the rivers are running golden now that the King beneath the Mountain has returned—but the grim man runs to the Master, crying out that the dragon is coming. Alarms sound and the bridges are flung down. Because of the...

Back at the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo and the dwarves watch the gathering of birds with growing wonder. The thrush returns, and Balin comments that he wishes it were a raven. He does not know the thrush’s language, but the ravens can communicate with dwarves. The thrush flies away, and Balin watches it go, murmuring that it seems to understand everything it hears. Not long later, the thrush reappears with a very old raven, Roäc, who explains that Smaug is dead and that Lake-town is destroyed. Roäc says the men and elves are coming to seek a share in the treasure, and he points out that the small group of dwarves cannot defend the Lonely Mountain alone. He advises Thorin to avoid negotiating with the Master of Lake-town but to...

The men and elves make a camp outside the Lonely Mountain, keeping Bilbo and the dwarves under siege. The dwarves spend much of their time in the dragon’s lair, examining and organizing the treasure. Thorin tells everyone about the Arkenstone and says that it belongs to him because it belonged to his father:

That stone of all the treasure I name unto myself, and I will be avenged on anyone who finds it and withholds it.

This worries Bilbo, but he keeps the stone a secret anyway. In the back of his mind, he is beginning to form a plan.

After a period of stalemate, Roäc arrives with news that Thorin’s cousin Dain is marching toward their location with a force...

The next morning, Bard and the Elvenking come to the mountain’s entrance with a cloaked old man. They ask Thorin if he would be willing to trade for some of his gold, and they show him the Arkenstone. Thorin is appalled that his enemies have the stone, and he says he should not have to buy back what is his own. He accuses them of stealing, but Bilbo admits that he gave Bard the stone. Thorin shakes Bilbo, cursing him and Gandalf for choosing him, and he threatens to throw the little hobbit onto the rocks below.

The old man beside Bard and the Elvenking throws off his cloak and reveals himself to be Gandalf. He tells Thorin to make a deal and to refrain from hurting Bilbo. Furious, Thorin calls Bilbo “descendant of...

Bilbo wakes up where he fell and is surprised to find himself alone among the rocks. He lost consciousness while wearing his ring, and nobody has been able to find him. When a man comes looking for him, Bilbo takes off his ring and learns that his side has won the battle. The man carries the aching Bilbo to camp. There he speaks to Thorin, who is lying on his deathbed from battle wounds. Thorin says he wants to “part in friendship,” and he and Bilbo forgive each other. Just before he dies, the dwarf says:

If more of use valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

After Thorin dies, Bilbo cries alone for some time. Later, people tell him...

By May, Gandalf and Bilbo have made it over the Misty Mountains. They return to Rivendell, where they are greeted by happy elves once again. They rest and share stories, and Bilbo learns what else was happening in the world while he and the dwarves traveled through Mirkwood. Gandalf and a group of white wizards have fought an evil ruler, the Necromancer, and driven him from his lands in Mirkwood. From now on, Gandalf says, the lands of the North will be safer than they have been for some time. However, the Necromancer is not dead, and Gandalf knows that he is still dangerous even if he is farther away.

Gandalf and Bilbo rest and gather their strength in Rivendell, but this time Bilbo is not tempted to stay forever. He...